After Trump took office and the GOP controlled the Congress Republicans zeroed in on abolishing the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare. They initially tried to replace it with their own healthcare plan, but when that failed they decided to go to the courts to abolish it. If the Supreme Court decides to keep the ACA it will be the third time they have decided to do so.
Both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh have said that they may get rid of a controversial piece within the ACA called the individual mandate and keep the rest of the ACA. The individual mandate required most Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a penalty. This was the basis for the 2012 Supreme Court challenge to the ACA, and the Supreme Court upheld it under Congress's taxing powers. But in 2017 the GOP controlled Congress made that penalty $0, thus allowing Republican lead states to claim that since that part of the ACA is no longer really in place the Supreme Court's justification is not workable, and therefore the entire Act should be eliminated.
If the Supreme Court chooses to keep the ACA, or at least keep the majority of it, it will be a slap in the face to the GOP who put Justices on the court that they thought would eliminate the Affordable Care Act. This court case could set a tone for what the court stands for and ease some people's fears towards what the conservative majority Supreme Court will do in the coming years when faced with cases in which their rulings will change the lives of millions.
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The Affordable Care Act is something that has helped many Americans to get access to healthcare, and many view it as something that needs to remain in place, citing healthcare as a right, not a privilege. Now more than ever the clauses in the Affordable Care Act involving preexisting conditions serve to protect the American public. With COVID-19 running rampant throughout the country, many have been infected and diagnosed, adding another preexisting condition to the long list of things that insurance companies would be able to unfairly upcharge people for. Furthermore, we do not yet know the full consequences of the virus, but from what we do know, in many cases it can cause lung damage, and in some instances even more significant harm to those that are infected. By once again allowing for the acknowledgment of preexisting conditions when charging people, many Americans would no longer be able to afford healthcare and medical treatment like they can now.
Republicans have constantly been on the attack, trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act in one way or another, having failed to get a new bill through Congress when McCain and two other Republicans sided with the Democrats in the vote, and later having to constantly appeal when lower courts upheld it as constitutional. Healthcare and the like has been a longstanding issue in US politics, well-known presidents such as Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan had their own views on it, with Carter favoring providing to Americans and Reagan viewing socialized medicine as ineffective and inadequate. Recently, president-elect Biden (at least according to the associated press) described expanding the Affordable Care Act as one of the goals of his presidency, so upholding it serves to help him in the future.
Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh’s legislative plan with respect to Obamacare seems mostly unsurprising because of recent discussions about the individual mandate. To many Republicans, yes this may appear a slap in the face because they desperately want to repeal Obamacare in its entirety. However, it appears to me that the Republican’s constant statements about repealing Obamacare are more show than real intention, especially considering that many Republicans, including Trump, don’t have a cohesive plan to replace it. Moreover, the Trump administration and many Republicans claim that they have already succeeded in repealing Obamacare to a large extent because of the individual mandate, which was one of the most angering parts of Obamacare to them. Watching Trump in the debates, he consistently and constantly said that by repealing the awful individual mandate, what we have now isn’t really Obamacare, and he was confident that his administration could run the individual mandate less-Obamacare well and proudly. For this, I think many Republicans are unsurprised because the Supreme Court Justices’ sentiments mirror those of the president.
Also, I have difficulty with the logic that since Congress abolished the individual mandate in practice, and the Supreme Court might abolish it in law precedent, that the whole basis of Obamacare is called into question. I believe that the 2012 Supreme Court case upheld the individual mandate on the power of taxation, not that they used this individual mandate to support the entire ACA. I may be wrong though. The question is whether these two conservative justices are striving to repeal the individual mandate’s basis in law in order to “fix” Obamacare like Trump said in his campaign speeches, or as a larger campaign to repeal the ACA in full.
It seems unsurprising that Republicans would want to eliminate the Affordable Care Act considering their ideology of small government and "personal freedom". Obama spent a great deal of time and money putting this system in place to help the people who can't afford the very unaffordable healthcare in the United States, he worked towards improvement for the US even though not everyone agrees with it. Therefore it is very sad to see that as soon as a new government settles they want to rule out what his administration worked for. All governments should have the best interests of Americans at heart, they should know that the best way to do that is to work together instead of spending time and resources trying to undo what the other has done.
I would say that anyone can see the good that Obamacare has done to people, it seems unfair that some people can't get treatment because they just simply can't afford it. An argument that a lot of republicans make is that help makes people lazy and makes them think that they don't have to work, their argument is also based on the idea of meritocracy that has proven to not work all times due to an imperfect society that we live in. A minimum wage job cannot afford private healthcare.
I personally think that removing the ACA is partly show and partly valid under the GOP. They have been pushing repealing different forms of financial aids, such as Obamacare, that it has almost become staple of the GOP and is essentially show to prove to loyal supporters of the GOP that they are still pushing that agenda. Furthermore, if they were to have successfully removed the ACA, I think that they would have had a weaker form of government aid afterwards, which is purely nature of the more "free-market" thinking GOP. However, I think most aspects of a republican made ACA would be mostly similar to the current ACA, as this movement seems to be just for show (as Danny had said). many families would be severely financially impacted without the ACA, so it is pretty essential to keep. The fact that congress backed the ACA is definitely a blow to the GOP, but I don't think this will be the last time they push for healthcare reform. It makes me a little worried as to what other important resources they will try to push to remove if they decide that it isn't worth the effort to push to abolish the ACA.
Justice Roberts has repeatedly tried to discourage the perception that the Supreme Court is partisan. With increased media coverage and public attention directed to a "conservative" court, Roberts will be placed in the delicate balance between ruling according to his interpretation of law and maintaining trust in the Court's impartiality. Despite GOP leaders pushing against the ACA since its adoption, the coronavirus pandemic has directed media and political energy to the subject of maintaining public health. The ACA also provides coverage for a large and growing population of (usually more conservative) older citizens. Repealing or reforming the ACA may be legally sound, but such an operation would require political threading of the needle for both the SCOTUS and Republican Party.
The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was passed in 2010. Since then, many have debated its effectiveness, but to fully understand its impacts, it is important to analyze its pros and cons on healthcare. More than 16 million Americans were able to obtain insurance within the first 5 years of its passing, with young adults being the majority in this figure. Although insurance isn't free or cheap, people are given more coverage options. On the other hand, when examining some of the shortcomings of the ACA, many people have had to pay higher premiums even with their existing healthcare. Additionally, taxes had to be increased to help pay for the ACA, essentially having the wealthy help subsidize for the poor. It is clear why Republicans are against this act, but considering how many people this program has impacted, it should be kept to allow for more accessible healthcare. Children are able to stay under their parents' plan until they are 26 years old, and the program is expected to reduce deficits in the long run and positively impact the budget.
It has been extremely clear that Trump didn't have a cohesive plan for his so-called "Trump Care," as he references it in the media several times, but when asked about the logistics and details of the plan, he claims that it is fully prepared, but it is classified (just one of the many examples was when he walked out of his interview with 60 minutes when confronted about his lack of transparency of his healthcare plan). Repealing the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare would not only strip millions of Americans of their healthcare insurance, but it would also significantly exacerbate healthcare disparities. The ACA protects healthcare as a basic human right for many low income and marginalized communities. BIPOC groups have been shown to have a shorter life expectancy and an increased risk of infant mortality compared to white people, which is an unfortunate reality that also applies to the current pandemic, in which Latinx and Black people have a much higher death rate. The protection and reform of the ACA would allow these racial disparities to be addressed.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/8/27/21400725/rnc-2020-trump-speech-health-care-obamacare
The Affordable Care Act does have its flaws, yet overall, there seem to be more benefits than its flaws. The act has undoubtedly benefited many people in affording health insurance, and possibly saved many from bankruptcy. However, even when one of its major controversial flaws fixed, the Republicans still seem to want to erase the act, despite the act being beneficial to about 20 million Americans. If this act is erased, it would most certainly cause more problems than benefits, especially if there is no plan to replace the act. This implies that the Republicans do not want to erase the act because of its flaws or not being beneficial enough. The fact that mostly republicans want to remove the act because of ideological differences and political differences. The Republicans are possibly less supportive of the government being involved in health care, and maybe dislike the idea that the democrats have been able to achieve a health care act which involved a lot of people.
On the surface, the individual mandate of Obamacare might appear like a daunting restriction of freedom but deep down this is a crucial mechanism utilized in the beneficial workings of Obamacare to help all Americans. By forcing all those who are financially able to pay for universal healthcare, Obamacare is financially able to provide subsidies for healthcare plans to people and families who require financial aid. At the same time, by enforcing mass enrollment of people into Obamacare, the program was able to pay insurance compagnies to keep their deductibles low. Essentially, this program provided aid to millions of people who otherwise could not pay for their own healthcare by using the financial participation of all of those who are financially able to pay for their own universal health care instead of splitting up the wealth of financially able Americans through private insurance compagnies. The GOP's attempts at removing this one fundamental piece of Obamacare would lead to the rest of the program completely falling part. Thus, although it might seem that they are not doing much the reality is that by repealing the individual mandate, millions of Americans would once again find themselves without the support they need. Especially during a pandemic, the GOP is choosing their own political beliefs over general regard towards human safety and well being to advance their political agenda of private or non-governmental insurances for Americans. In the end, if ACA is repealed, the rich, who can always afford and choose their own private insurance plans would once again benefit while the poor and middle class Americans who make up the large majority of the country would be left with little to no financial protection for their health.
What is most striking to me is that Republicans who are in support of abolishing the Affordable Care Act haven't been able to create a successful alternative. Meanwhile, the Affordable Care act has been successful in extending healthcare insurance coverage to millions of previously uninsured Americans. It is true that the ACA is not perfect. For instance, workloads have increased for medical providers across the nation. However, one must consider the amount its benefitted the American people. Abolishing this, especially without another healthcare plan to substitute it, will be extremely problematic for tens of millions of Americans.
I definitely agree with what Harbani has said above about the lack of alternative plan for the Affordable Care Act. President Trump who is a critique of the act and wants to get rid of it has not released a plan to take its place. The New York Times wrote: "As many as 133 million Americans — roughly half the population under the age of 65 — have pre-existing medical conditions that could disqualify them from buying a health insurance policy or cause them to pay significantly higher premiums if the health law were overturned" (https://www.nytimes.com/article/supreme-court-obamacare-case.html). This further highlights how the Act or an alternative is necessary even if the Affordable Care Act does have faults. Many people rely on the Affordable Care Act for their healthcare, especially low income families, so the uncertainty of the Act's future worries many Americans.
For those who support getting rid of the Affordable Care Act in place of another alternative. There hasn’t been any new plan that would be more effective than the current one. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation about 23 million people across the country are under the ACA, and rely on it as their healthcare provider. Choosing to abolish it without implementing a new plan will make it so tons of low income families and elderly who can’t qualify for cheaper healthcare, will be unable to have any or force them to pay for more expensive healthcare. Choosing to get rid of this, clearly won’t affect the rich upper class who don’t rely on this act, but instead put the large population of low income/middle class Americans at risk. Especially with the current pandemic, getting rid of the ACA would put these people at risk and unable to get any care.
If the Supreme Court decides to strike down the Affordable Care Act without any other solid alternatives, it would significantly affect many millions of people than those who get their health coverages through it. Millions of people are losing job-based health coverage during this coronavirus pandemic, and if the court decides to take away this cheap-alternative healthcare then many Americans would not be able to qualify or receive any alternatives. According to NY Times, Americans (especially the population under the age of 65) have pre-existing medical conditions that would disqualify them from buying a health insurance policy or cause them to pay significantly higher healthcare if the health act is overturned. The ACA is beneficial because they state that "no one can be denied coverage under any circumstances" and according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, an estimated 54 million people have their conditions serious enough that other insurers would deny their coverage if the ACA was not in effect. This information hopefully alarms people and the court how striking down the ACA would cause millions of people to be uninsured and that is a national issue.
If the Supreme Court decides to get rid of the individual mandate, their actions would not signal the death of Obamacare. Mandate penalties were slashed as a part of the tax bill in 2017, but Obamacare didn't collapse and membership didn't decrease heavily as many experts expected it to, according to the New York Times. The individual mandate is controversial even within the Democrats, with promonent candidates like Pete Buttigeg purporting "Free Healthcare for those who want it."
Eradicating Obamacare would be a completely different ballpark with tremendous implications for the American people, leaving many uninsured during a pandemic. It's astounding that there's no plan to circumvent the loss of coverage for millions.
Even still, Obamacare itself is like putting a bandaid on a stab wound. The real issue is private healthcare companies that profit off of the illness of Americans. We need a good public option.
I don't think you can have a functioning affordable care act without the individual mandate. If people are not required to but health cares the cost of health care goes up exponentially making the affordable care act unaffordable for people. Another problem with the affordable care act was that people were willing to pay the penalties and avoid buying health care because it was cheaper for them do that. The way the affordable care act is structured is helpful towards families but towards individual employees, they are forced to buy family plans making it a burden on them and their employer. Also, insurers' networks do not offer the best doctors and hospitals in order to keep the premiums low. In addition, there is a problem with healthy young people avoiding buying insurance while older people buy messing up the market. That is not to say the affordable care act was a great first step towards better health care for all, however, unless these pressing issues get resolved their is no point in it coming back.
For years the Affordable Care Act has aided millions of Americans with access to healthcare. Especially in our current circumstances of the pandemic, this type of support is incredibly important. Since its establishment in 2010, ObamaCare has been a hot topic of debate for both Republicans and Democrats. While this plan allowed for many American families to receive insurance, it calls for a higher tax, basically having the rich subsidize for the poor. Republicans, with their ideals of personal freedom and limited government power, among others, unsurprisingly push for the Affordable Care Act to be abolished. However, repealing ACA would take healthcare insurance away from millions of Americans and have a greater negative impact in low income and minority communities.
With many American’s living in poverty or earning below $40,000 per year, it is very difficult to have good health insurance. With the ACA, American citizens had the chance to have access to better healthcare and were given the opportunity to not have to stress about the money. In 2010, 46.2 million people in the US were living in poverty, but with the help of Obamacare, the number of people without health insurance dramatically dropped, and Obamacare helped strengthen America’s healthcare system. Obama looked out for his people and wanted to help improve the lives of millions. Trump removing Obamacare is uncalled for and he is ultimately making healthcare only accessible for the rich or middle class, while those making minimum wage are struggling to make a living. I think healthcare insurance should be accessible for everyone, not just a selective group of people.
With many American’s living in poverty or earning below $40,000 per year, it is very difficult to have good health insurance. With the ACA, American citizens had the chance to have access to better healthcare and were given the opportunity to not have to stress about the money. In 2010, 46.2 million people in the US were living in poverty, but with the help of Obamacare, the number of people without health insurance dramatically dropped, and Obamacare helped strengthen America’s healthcare system. Obama looked out for his people and wanted to help improve the lives of millions. Trump removing Obamacare is uncalled for and he is ultimately making healthcare only accessible for the rich or middle class, while those making minimum wage are struggling to make a living. I think healthcare insurance should be accessible for everyone, not just a selective group of people.
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